Choosing image over alliance

That the Congress and one of its potential allies, the Rashtriya Janata Dal, were among the first to see their members disqualified from Parliament following conviction in corruption cases is only incidental. After the Supreme Court struck down Section 8(4) of the Representation of the People Act which gave convicted sitting Members of Parliament protection from immediate disqualification, the real surprise was the disintegration of an emerging consensus among the political class against the judgment. As public opinion seemed to weigh against politicians seeking the cover and comfort of legal delays, the main opposition, the Bharatiya Janata Party, broke ranks. And soon enough, not to be left behind, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi came out and rubbished the “nonsense ordinance” that sought to allow convicted persons to continue as MPs or legislators if their sentence was stayed by an appellate court within 90 days. From then on, the race was for reclaiming the high moral ground. With its image at stake, there was little chance of Rashid Masood and RJD chief Lalu Prasad figuring in the political calculations of the Congress. The withdrawal of the ordinance might indeed have worsened the ties with the RJD, but the Congress was certainly looking at the bigger picture, and not just Bihar. Winning voter goodwill, even if only to a limited extent, was more important than stitching together an alliance with one party. Instead of having to be defensive on what could have turned out to be an important electoral issue, the Congress was hoping to project Mr. Gandhi as a representative of the youth who could feel the pulse of the people very well. That the Manmohan Singh government was made to look silly for having tried to push through an ordinance of this nature seemed a small price to pay in the face of potential gains for the Congress as a party.

In any case, the failure of the UPA government to come to the aid of Lalu Prasad need not foreclose all possibility of a Congress-RJD tie-up. After all, electoral strategies are not based on personal likes or dislikes. What matters is whether the two parties need each other in Bihar. At the moment, the alliance options of the Congress seem to be wider than that of the RJD. With the break-up of the alliance between the Janata Dal (United) and the BJP, the JD (U) too is looking for friends to make up for the shortfall. Even if there is some public sympathy for a former chief minister going to jail, this is unlikely to be a major electoral factor. The Congress did well in backing itself, and not a discredited ally. For the party, a lot was gained in withdrawing the hurriedly-framed ordinance, and little seems to have been lost in Bihar.

Real Politik plus principle is a creation to convince people innocent or not. So the plus in RahulÂ´s political strategy has minus 'corruption' theme. Not only political parties but commercial,industrial and media establishments all brazenly and without iota of ethics use and abuse this strategy.

from:
Jayanthi

Posted on: Oct 24, 2013 at 16:14 IST

The assessment made about Congress in your editorial is incorrect. "A lot was gained by Congress in withdrawing the ordinance" the conclusion drawn in the Edit, falls short of the reality. The ordinace, the brain child of apex body of Congress, and the ministry, was about to get the nod of the Parliament. It was a calculated strategy to cash in on the public ire over corruption and more so to catapult the image of Rahul as witnessed through his fury, probably rehearsed, before media. This enabled Rahul to don the attire of a crusader against corruption . It was Congress followed by RJD, who opened the account, and both are equally disgraced. The price Congress paid for the calculated ploy was the utter disgrace to PMO, the highest office of the nation and to the collective wisdom. It seems Congress will do and undo any thing just to crown the scion of Indira Gandhi.

from:
C.Chandrasekaran

Posted on: Oct 24, 2013 at 14:51 IST

It is total rubbish. What image does the congress party has at this stage, to be worried about redeeming it. Its image has taken a severe beating in the last two years, post 2G and a host of corruption cases, it tried to hush up. But for the one man army i.e. subramaniam swamy, 2G would have been buried. MMS has become thick skinned and he is no more worried about his image or that of his party.

from:
P.G.RAVIKUMAR

Posted on: Oct 24, 2013 at 13:56 IST

It is not principles, but political expediency that is guiding our political parties. No parties can claim moral high ground in this matter. It was an elaborate drama, effectively planned by the Congress think tank, to bring in Rahul Gandhi as the direct moral descendant of the Mahatma, just before an election, was what we witnessed recently. Why is his acidic reaction focused only on criminals, why not at the rampant corruption and nepotism, at his own household? The nation was surprised when the young Gandhi, questioned the sagacity of the decisions of its PM. But then, we, the people, did not elect this PM. He is in this office by virtue of his loyalty to the Nehru family, undermining the basic right of its citizens to directly elect their PM. Democracy is degenerating in our country day by day, killing its essential spirit as the peopleâs government. That is why we, the people, see a ray of hope, in the new parties like the AAP, that pledge to fight against the ills of the current system. Large monolithic parties without true inner party democracy, led by dynasties, is the curse of Indian democracy.

from:
Chellappan Pillai

Posted on: Oct 24, 2013 at 13:06 IST

I see Rahul Gandhi's ânonsense ordinanceâ and the Congress' stand as a good instance for political gambling. What they want is to win. Lalu seems to be a good player with Congress in this race of politics. None of them clings on the rope of citizen's hope.

from:
P. M. Mubashir

Posted on: Oct 24, 2013 at 12:22 IST

The hon'ble Supreme court's endeavor to change the people' representative Act in order to cleanse Indian politics to some extent is a landmark and long-awaited step. this will, though not entirely, bring some decline to corruption in India.there should be more change in the People's Representative Act like setting minimum educational qualification to be a member of Parliament as well as legislative assembly, Negative voting if citizens do not want a candidate at all. but the implementation of all the above needs a broad political consensus which is yet lacking in Indian political system.

from:
Rabindra Samal

Posted on: Oct 24, 2013 at 10:52 IST

Rahul Gandhi seems to hold a magic wand for the electoral gains of the Congress party. When he rubbished the hurriedly concocted ordinance for electoral gains, it was rolled back sans a whisper of resentment. Similarly, if the angry young man may rubbish as election stunt the hastily taken decision to bifurcate Andhra Pradesh the elders may sure give in and desist from proceeding with the decision!If this happens, the Party stands to gain in the forth coming general election. And it may fetch some respite too to the Seema people, particularly the students, who feel that their career prospects are in peril

from:
N. Sadasivan Pillai

Posted on: Oct 24, 2013 at 10:51 IST

Young-India wants to get a corrupt-free politicians.Voters are not a entertainers they knew the fact

from:
Subeesh Kumar

Posted on: Oct 24, 2013 at 10:10 IST

The learned editor seems to have conveniently forgotten that the very same congress which "seems" to have taken the so called "moral highground" for sacrificing its alliance in favor of punishing taintend MP's , was the very party which protected Lalu all these years by delaying punishment /Cases through its pet called CBI.
What the editor should have said and would have been more accurate since RJD cant win any seats in Bihar, and is of no use to the Gandhi's who like to use people as long as they can and then throw them away, have thrown Lalu to the dumpster.